Gov't Plays Defense against Gaza Attacks

Cabinet will approve fortification of Gaza Belt communities. Soldier still in serious condition after attack.

By Gil Ronen

First Publish: 10/24/2012, 7:44 PM

Taking shelter in Sderot (file)

Israel news photo: Flash 90

The government is expected to approve Sunday the fortification of communities located 4.5 to 7 kilometers away from Gaza, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced during his tour of southern communities Wednesday.

The state will finance the construction of protected spaces in about 1,700 homes, in 26 communities.

Residents of these communities complained to Voice of Israel public radio that the step was only being taken now, four years into the government's term.

Overall, Israel has assumed a defensive posture vis-à-vis the ongoing attrition and humiliation by the Hamas terror entity, which began when Israeli communities still existed in Gaza, and erupted in greater force after the 2005 Disengagement, Israel's unsuccessful attempt to solve the Gaza problem through unilateral withdrawal.

While the IAF targets terrorists regularly, there has only been one large scale incursion into Gaza after the Disengagement – Operation Cast Lead in 2008-9 – and that operation stopped short of unseating Hamas or destroying its leadership. The situation appears even more complicated now, with an Islamist regime installed in Egypt.